The present invention relates in general to dispensing containers that include a container body, a closure connected into an outlet of the container body, and a closing cap assembled to the closure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a dispensing container that is constructed and arranged to separately contain two flowable products and to separately dispensing those two flowable products, although concurrently, so that the two flowable products are allowed to mix only after being dispensed (i.e., co-dispensing). Structural features and relationships disclosed by various embodiments of the present invention enable the two flowable products to be co-dispensed in a particular ratio. Some of the needs for this type of proportionate dispensing are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,103, issued Jul. 7, 1987 to Dirksing.
As stated in the '103 patent, many chemical systems require two or more components to be kept separate before they are mixed and used in order to achieve certain desired properties. Such systems include epoxy adhesives, detergent and bleach combinations, detergent and fabric softener combinations, beverages, and foodstuffs, to list some of the possibilities. In such systems, it is usually important for the relative proportions of the components to remain within certain limits to achieve optimal results. In the preferred embodiment, the two products are a clear coat material and a lacquer thinner. These two products need to be mixed in order to achieve the desired viscosity for use in a spray paint gun or equipment.
When different amounts of such multi-component systems are needed, it has been generally necessary to first weigh-measure or volume-measure the components separately and then mix them by hand. In addition to being time consuming and messy, such systems are impractical because weighing or measuring devices are typically not available at the place where such multi-component systems are to be applied. Few households, for example, have measuring devices that permit proper proportioning of components in small quantities, and estimating proportions by eye is not only difficult, but risks failure in achieving the proper proportions and the corresponding optimal characteristics of the chemical system.
Related benefits of the disclosed embodiment of the present invention include the ability to provide everything in a single package and the elimination of any particular skill level to be able to measure out the two products in the right ratio. From a marketing perspective, the two-product combination in a single package ensures that both products will be purchased from the same manufacturer. When one of the two products is a common composition and not proprietary, it could be obtained from other sources, but for this two-product, pre-packaged combination.
There have been many attempts to provide plural-chambered dispensing devices that co-dispense two or more flowable products. However, in trying to maintain a constant pouring or dispensing ratio between the poured products, most of these devices require complex and expensive features which make the devices difficult and impractical to manufacture. In addition, the particular structures of these devices usually do not provide the degree of metering accuracy necessary for certain co-dispensing applications.
The '103 patent elected to address this design challenge by first placing an inner container within an outer container for the two flowable products and then placing a third, empty container inside of the inner container. The intent was to try and use the empty container to affect the pouring characteristics of the inner container in the same way that the inner container would presumably affect the pouring characteristics of the outer container.
In addition to the obvious inefficiencies of fabricating and installing a third, empty container, its size causes an increase in the overall size of the inner container and/or a reduction of the volume of product contained therein. As the inner container increases in size, so as to handle the desired volume of product, the outer container must correspondingly increase in size.
The present invention approaches this challenge of precisely and reliably co-dispensing two flowable products by focusing on the design of the container closure and on the design of any cooperating venting structures. This approach is considered to be more controllable with more accurate co-dispensing. This approach also permits greater design versatility in that different closure characteristics can be used to influence the proportions of the two flowable products without needing to change the size or shape of the inner and outer containers, but a change to the containers can be made, if desired. In one embodiment of the present invention, merely changing the fitment in terms of the inner and outer dispensing outlets allows the dispensing ratio to be changed in that the product dispensing ratio is dependent on the cross sectional flow area of the two concentric flowable product dispensing outlets defined by the fitment. When the inner dispensing outlet receives an extendable spout, as in the preferred embodiment, the spout cross sectional flow area determines the flow rate of the product from the inner container.
As will be described herein and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the present invention, as disclosed and claimed, provides a novel and unobvious advance in the state of the art for dispensing containers.